Ginosar

Ginosar (Hebrew: גִּנּוֹסַר), (Latin: Gennesaret), is a kibbutz on the western banks of the Sea of Galilee in Israel. Located north of Tiberias on Highway 90, it falls under the jurisdiction of Emek HaYarden Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 472.

History

Roman period antecedents

In the First Century AD there was a flourishing town known by Greek and Latin speakers as Gennesaret, with the version "Ginosar" appearing in the New Testament. The modern kibbutz takes its name from this ancient town, though it is not certain it is located on precisely the same site.

During a severe drought in 1986 the level of lake dropped to reveal the frame of a fishing boat that has since been carbon dated to 100 BCE to 70 CE, and is now known as the Sea of Galilee Boat. Using innovative techniques the boat frame was rescued, the boat was placed in a special tank, and it is displayed in the Beit Yigal Allon Museum.

Twentieth Century

Ginosar was founded on the eve of Purim in March 1937 by a group of young Socialist Zionists, on Palestine Jewish Colonization Association (PICA) land that had been leased to the settlement of Migdal.